Royersford Borough Mourns Crossing Guard

Royersford Borough lost one of its own last week with the passing of , a crossing guard at 4th Avenue and Spring Street, and an employee at Giant. Zabaska passed away on April 5. She was 43.

"It's very sad [to lose] a part of our family," said Borough Manager Michael Leonard.

Zabaska was the crossing guard at that post since 2004. Mayor John Guest said Zabaska's replacement was sworn in on Tuesday night. Her name is Elaine White and she starts immediately on Wednesday.

In other news, Leonard noted the logistics for pricing on the repair/replacement of the basketball courts at are being worked on.

"I got a call Thursday from the commissioner's office that all open space grants that don’t have a signed contract are on hold right now, so ours is on hold," Leonard reported.

The central air conditioning unit at the recently broke and needs to be replaced. Councilmen reflected that the unit has been in use for about 20 years and has been patched up with duct tape frequently over the years.

Leonard said he put two bids in and is waiting for one more to come in on Wednesday. Council moved that Leonard can move forward with a limit to spend $10,000 maximum on the new unit.

Finally, Borough President Tom Weikel reminded the public and council that the next meeting, April 24, is Election Day, but the meeting has not been canceled.

Other Notes from the Meeting

• Finance Committee Chairman John Kring asked council to move to pay the bills for March from the General Fund in the amount of $138,591.73. The motion passed unanimously.
• Public Works Committee Chairman Charlie Bowers submitted the following report for the month of March: 17 loads trash collected, equivilent of 106.58 tons. 200 man hours used. 803 miles driven. 4 hours overtime, 8 hours worked for the public works director. The team patched potholes on borough streets, serviced and maintained all vehicles, changed dates and put up signs for Easter egg hunt, opened and cleaned bathrooms for Victory Park egg hunt, received two new F350 trucks and spent 38 man hours installing and transferring equipment in new vehicles, dug a 95-foot trench and installed a drain line at the park to prevent erosion at the upper end of lot, arranged for Montco Fence to install fencing around the generator at the Green Street Pump Station, and 14 faded signs on streets were replaced.
• Council moved to advertise the two old public works vehicles for sale unanimously.
• Parks and Recreation Committee Chairman Paul Chrisman submitted the following report for the month of March: The went off as scheduled despite iffy weather. Prize lines were as long as any other year indicating a good turnout. The committee spent $184.80 for eggs and will figure out what it spent on prizes next month. The summer concert series' exact dates are on the Royersford calendar on the borough's website. Laurie Faust reported the on Main Street will be on Sept. 8.
• Public Safety Chairman Bruce Buckwalter submitted the following reports for the month of March: Royersford Police Department: 8 Accidents, 1 burglaries, 3 thefts, 4 criminal mischief, 11 criminal arrests, 2 juvenile arrests, 6 motor vehicle traffic citations, 5 motor vehicle written warnings, 3 DUI, 11 parking tickets, 11 tickets paid, 7 tickets paid through district court, 4 animal control complaints, 4 assists by department, outside assists: Spring City - 3, Limerick - 10, Upper Providence - 2, other - 2. Total money collected - $2,101.97. Total land miles - 3,765. Gas usage: 435 gallons. Royersford Fire Marshal: 4 fires, 15.5 hours. Knox Box installed - 0, Knox Box ordered - 3, Knox Box time - 15.5 hours. Total time service for March – 1 hour total. Parking tickets issued - 1, parking tickets paid - 1.
• Planning Commission – Tom Weikel reported the following: "We're hoping to have a meeting in may. The county planning commission has reviewed one of the ordinances and [Solicitors] Alan [Boroff] and Todd [Silbergeld] have made an update to the ordinance. We're still waiting for the other two to come back. If we have it, we will have the meeting in May.
• Boroff said he is waiting for a report for outdoor lighting and stormwater.